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16 FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | NOVEMBER 2018 By Steve Benoff Not long ago, when I turned on my TV, I immediately knew something was wrong. Just to make things clear, when I say I turned on my TV, I mean I pressed one button on my living room remote control. That turns on the living room TV, plus the A/V receiver stored in a closet in the front room, sets the receiver to the proper input, and sets up my cable box (a TiVo in my case). I spent over 40 years in the home electronics business; so when we moved into our Four Seasons home, I decided to give myself a present and installed a control system like the ones I've been installing in customers' homes for years. Interestingly, I could have used an app for system control instead of a remote; but this is one case where I didn't want to use my phone every time I made an adjustment to the system. I find a standard-size remote much more handy to use instead of my phone. I also prefer the hard-button remote to the fancy, expensive touchscreen remotes I've been selling for years. (In my own defense, I didn't come to this realization until I started using the touchscreen in my own home.) Back to my realization that something was wrong with my system. The TV came on, but there was nothing on the screen. So I walked to the front of the house where my equipment rack is stored and heard a loud buzzing sound. I also saw that the cable box wasn't on. It turns out the sound was coming from my backup battery, to which I connected my cable box, my modem, and my Internet router. Strangely enough, when the batteries fail in a backup battery system, the equipment connected to it lose power even though there is still electricity to the battery unit. So, I got to thinking, there should be a battery backup (technically this is called a UPS, uninterruptible power supply) that has an app that could notify me when the batteries are about to fail. Instead of simply replacing the batteries in my existing unit, I wanted to buy one that fits more nicely in my equipment rack. That began my search for a UPS with an app. Guess what? There isn't one. Mind you, backup battery systems are primarily designed for computers. Many of them can even be programmed to turn off your computer properly when the backup power is about to run out. So how can such a computer-savvy unit not have an app? It's true that some of these units can be connected to the Internet so that you can access them from a computer. Why not take the extra step and provide an app so that the status of the backup system can be viewed from a phone? Not only are there no such apps, the UPS manufacturers' personnel I spoke with hadn't even considered offering an app. It bewilders me that I have apps that give me the status of the systems in my car, the temperature in my home, and the status of my sprinkler system, but not the battery condition of my UPS. I'm sure that Tesla has an app to show you the battery status of Tesla cars and home batteries. Oh well, it seems there isn't an app for everything. Since I can't get what I want, for the time being I've replaced my battery backup with the least expensive UPS I could find that otherwise suits my needs. By the time this unit fails, I hope there will finally be one with the app I want. Do you use an app you'd like to share with others? Let me know at steve.benoff@verizon.net. THERE'S AN APP FOR THAT! NOT How can there not be an app for that?

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